


something new

by fmc_rpdr



Category: RuPaul's Drag Race RPF
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, High School Musical AU, I’ll add more tags as I go, Kinda?, Lesbian AU, Strangers to Lovers, crygi, crystal is gabriella, except it’s crystal and gigi, gigi is sharpay, gigi is stubborn and crystal is smooth brained, its basically hsm but if gabriella and sharpay got together, no like crystal is seriously dumb, probably slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:35:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25684387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fmc_rpdr/pseuds/fmc_rpdr
Summary: A High School Musical AU where Crystal is the straight nerdy new girl and Gigi is the closeted mean popular girl. I was watching HSM and thought wow this movie would be so much better if it was gay and so this was born.
Relationships: Gigi Goode/Crystal Methyd
Comments: 81
Kudos: 65





	1. New Years Eve

**Author's Note:**

> Hiii!! This is my first time writing a fanfic (besides the dance moms ones i wrote in like 5th grade but let’s not talk ab that) so pls go easy on me LOL. I just had this idea and needed to write it so hopefully some others can appreciate it as well! xoxo  
>  lmk what you think in the comments:)

Crystal Methyd hated parties. To say they were "not her scene" would be an understatement. She would much rather be locked in her bedroom at home, but her parents could not care less about what she wanted. They insisted that she come with them to the New Years Eve party that was going on that night at the resort they were staying in. Her family was staying in New Mexico for her entire winter break; they thought a "vacation" would make up for the fact that they were forcing her to move across the country next week. Crystal did not think it made up for it at all, especially since she was not enjoying herself. She had somehow gotten herself out of all of the other resort events so far. 

The long list of new excuses she had prepared did not work tonight however, her mother saying, "Crystal dear, it's our last night here. You need to be a normal teenager and socialize. You need to improve on your people skills before starting at a new school, you know. Plus, you might actually have fun!" 

Crystal scoffed under her breathe at that. "Doubt it," she thought, but decided it wasn't worth fighting over with her mother any further. She put on a dark green overall dress with a white t-shirt underneath, fishnet stockings, and her docs, and tied her curly brown hair up into a messy ponytail. She then looked herself in the mirror once more and trudged out the door and to the resort elevator, following close behind her parents.

The room felt stuffy despite being quite large, and was filled with uptight looking adults. Crystal scanned the area for anyone even close to her age when her father spoke. 

"Honey, we're going to go sit at the bar. There should be some teenagers in there, go mingle!" he said, pointing to another room that was lit up with colorful lights. 

Not knowing what else to do, Crystal nodded and headed into said room. Just as her father had suggested, there were in fact teenagers in this room. None that seemed interesting enough to try to talk to though. Crystal opted to stay planted next to the table with the punch bowl and platters of snacks. She mindlessly twirled her hair around one finger while she thought about what her best friends back at home, Daya, Daegen, Lux, and Tiff were doing right now. She decided that they were probably high off their asses at this point, it being pretty late in the night already. "Wow, the things I would do to be there instead of here right now," she thought, but she wasn't there and couldn't do anything about that. Instead of moping any further, she looked around, searching for anyone that looked like they might have something intelligent or at least funny to say, when she suddenly felt her arm being pulled. 

In the blink of an eye she was up on a stage looking down at the crowd of teenagers she had been intently watching just seconds prior. When she realized what was going on she quickly found the stairs on the side of the stage and tried to flee, only to be pushed back up by the same man that had dragged her up there. 

Parties weren't the only thing Crystal hated. She also hated doing anything in front of a crowd. Whether that was public speaking, dancing, or even singing, which she loved doing in private, she could not do it in front of others. The man that brought her up here didn't know that though, and he probably wouldn't care. Crystal stood frozen in front of a microphone stand as she faintly heard what sounded like a boy protesting being brought up alongside her. He too failed and was soon standing at the microphone beside her. It was then that she realized that they had been picked to do a song for karaoke. She looked over to see a boy around her age with shaggy blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He smiled shyly at her, seeming just as anxious as she was. Knowing she wasn't alone in this painfully awkward situation calmed her nerves slightly. 

Having no other choice, Crystal took a deep breath and clutched the microphone in front of her like her life depended on it; it felt like it did. She glanced at the boy next to her for some moral support as the music started playing and words began to appear on the screen for them to follow along with. Thankfully, his lines came first. He sang them with a surprising amount of ease for how nervous he looked and before Crystal knew it, it was her turn.

Her mouth opened without her permission and started singing the highlighted words on the large screen. She felt like she wasn't in control of her own body, but then again, maybe that was for the better right now. Crystal and the blonde boy sang in harmony and as the song went on she started to relax a little bit. The entire crowd cheered as they finished and Crystal stood there stunned. She felt her arm being pulled again, this time by the boy she had just done a duet with, and was soon being led off the stage and to an outside area. 

"That was amazing! You were amazing!" the boy in front of her exclaimed when they stopped walking. "I'm Kyle, by the way." He reached his hand out for her to shake it.

"I can't believe I just did that! You weren't so bad either," Crystal said with a small laugh, still in shock that she hadn't fainted on the stage. "I'm Crystal," she replied as she took his hand in hers hesitantly. 

"Well it's nice to meet you Crystal. I can't believe I did that either. My friends back at home would never let me hear the end of it if they had seen any of that," Kyle chuckled. 

He seemed nice enough that Crystal didn't feel the need to find an excuse to end the conversation. They continued making small talk, about how lame this party was, and how they both would much rather be at home with their friends instead of surrounded by old rich people. Soon enough, the minute-long countdown to midnight started. 

"Five, four, three, two, one! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the crowd shouted in unison. 

"Well, I better be getting back to my parents, I'm sure they're probably looking for me by now," Crystal made an excuse to leave now that it had passed midnight. 

"Oh, that's right. Me too! I-uh- could i maybe-uh get your number before you go?" Kyle stuttered, seeming nervous for the first time since they were on the stage. 

"Sure!" Crystal replied, taking his phone out of his hand and quickly typing in her phone number, adding a smiley face next to her contact name before handing it back to him. 

"Cool! You know maybe my parents were right when they said this party wouldn't be so bad!" Kyle said to continue the conversation, but when he looked up, Crystal was already gone into the crowd. 

Crystal pushed through the clusters of sweaty teenagers and quickly found her parents at the bar, both with a drink in their hand. 

"Happy New Year! I'm gonna head back up to the room if that's okay?" 

"Happy New Year sweetheart, yeah, sure, go ahead. Here's the key, we'll be up later," her mother slurred, to drunk to protest and try to keep Crystal at the party any longer. "You look like you had fun! I told you you would." 

"Yeah, if you consider being forced to face one of your biggest fears fun, then sure," Crystal thought, but she just smiled, took the room key from mother, and headed towards the elevator.

Once in the room, she changed into her pajamas and got in bed. She thought about how uncomfortable she felt earlier tonight, being surrounded by complete strangers, not knowing anyone. She knew this was not the last time she would feel like this, as she was starting at her new school in California in just one short week. She fell asleep thinking about how much she was dreading all of it.


	2. First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal starts at her new school in LA.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii! So i will hopefully be updating this every other day! We finally meet gigi in this chapter, hope you guys are enjoying so far! I have some exciting stuff planned for this, cant wait to get to it!

From New Mexico, the Methyd's went straight to their new home in California. Los Angeles, California to be exact. " _Great, a town full of rich kids who will never have to work a day in their lives_ ," Crystal thought as they drove past the lines of mansions that didn't seem to be uncommon in the town. The Methyd's new house was nicer than the one they lived in back in Missouri, a little bit bigger, but nowhere near as modern or fancy as most of the others in the area.

Crystal's first few days in LA were spent unpacking her belongings and trying to familiarize herself with the places in town. She found a local pizzeria, ice cream shop, coffee joint, and thrift store, all the essentials. Before she knew it, it was Sunday night. School started the next morning and Crystal could not be less excited.

"Crystal you are being ridiculous. Everyone is gonna love you! Plus, I've heard they have a great art club!" Crystal's mother exclaimed in a tone somewhere in between sympathetic and annoyed.

"I'm not joining any clubs for a little bit Mom. I need to adjust first, and I doubt that I'll make friends easily. These kids are all rich! They will probably want nothing to do with me," Crystal rolled her eyes. "I'm going to get ready for bed now."

Her mother took that as her cue to leave the room, not saying anything else. Crystal used to be close with her parents. They had the perfect life back in Missouri. Once a week they had family game night, and they would always eat dinner together. This changed when they told Crystal about the move for her father's new (and better paying) job. She had tried to bargain with them, asking to stay in Missouri with her grandparents, but they refused to hear her out. Their relationship hadn't been the same since. Realistically, Crystal knew that they felt bad and she was maybe being a little bit unfair. She would never admit that to them though, choosing to shut them out and try to make them feel guiltier instead.

✽✽✽

The school seemed huge and ominous as Crystal looked out the window on her father's truck. They drove through the parking lot to the front entrance, Crystal examining the cars and students that went along with them. Her eyes were quickly drawn to a bright pink convertible with a pretty blonde girl sitting in the front seat of it. The license plate read " _FABULUS_." Crystal made a mental note to steer clear of the blonde dressed in all pink, as she seemed like the type of girl that would be a bitch to her back at home.

After receiving a list of classes and a map of the school, Crystal headed to the first place on her schedule: drama class. She quickly found a seat towards the back of the room and got out a notebook and a pen, trying to blend in as much as possible. She looked around the room at the other students who were talking amongst themselves. Her ears tuned in to a conversation between two guys towards the front of the room, only one of which she could see from where she was sitting. She didn't catch what they were talking about because all she could focus on was how familiar the guy out of her view's voice sounded. She was trying to place the voice when her thoughts were interrupted by the teacher, Ms. Sport, clearing her throat to get everyone's attention.

"I trust you all had a delightful holiday break. I want everyone to check the sign up sheets in the lobby for new activities, especially our Winter Musical," she said in a theatrical voice, emphasizing the end of the word musical. "We will hold single auditions for supporting roles and pairs auditions for our two leads. There is also a final sign up for the upcoming art show; art club president Jackie Cox can answer any of your questions on that," Ms. Sport announced, motioning towards the dark haired girl who was sitting next to Crystal.

Suddenly a ringing noise filled the classroom, someone's phone, which cause Ms. Sport to change her tone as she continued to speak.

"Ahh the cell phone epidemic has returned with the new year to plague our space of learning. Gigi and Gavin, hand them over and I will see you in detention! We have zero tolerance for cell phones here so we will get to know each other in detention!" Ms. Sport spoke as she approached Crystal, holding a bucket out for her to place her phone into. Crystal reluctantly dropped her phone into it. "And welcome to East High, Ms. Methyd."

She continued to collect the phones of almost the entire class, telling them they all had detention after school in the auditorium before dismissing them at the bell. Crystal felt a hand on her shoulder as soon as she walked out the door.

"Hey! What're you doing here?!" Kyle blurted out, a little too excited. Crystal's eyes widened at the sight of him. So _that_ was the voice Crystal had recognized.

"Oh my god! Hi! My dad just got a new job here!" Crystal laughed, feeling relieved to know someone already. "I can't believe you live here, small world huh?"

"Yeah, guess so. I can totally show you around the school if you want. Or the city sometime maybe? I can show you all the best places in LA! All the spots my friends and I like! It'll be so much fun, like a date almost! Well-not a date- unless you want it to be? Have you been to California before? I could show you some of the other cities too if you'd like—" Kyle's rambling was cut off by Crystal abruptly turning down the hallway to the left as she followed her map;she had barely heard two words of anything he had just said. He walked a little faster to catch up with her.

"Well anyways, welcome to East High. I bet you're just dying to sign up for that now that you've met Ms Sport." Kyle spoke as he motioned to the sign up sheet for the winter musical that they were walking by.

"I don't think I'll be signing up for anything for a while, but you totally should!"

"Yeah well, that's completely impossible."

"Nothing's impossible for you Kyle," a flirty voice said from around the corner.

" _Shit_ ," Crystal thought. It was the blonde girl from before. She was even prettier and more intimidating up close. Her bright blonde hair shined even under the dull light of the hallway and her all pink get up looked like it was made specifically for her. It probably was.

"How nice of you to show the _new girl_ around," the girl said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

She then took a pink pen with feathers at the end out of her pink purse and signed her name across half of the sign up sheet in big, cursive letters. " _Gigi Goode." Of course she had a model name._

"Oh, did you want to sign up too? My brother Gavin and I are in the musicals every year, but newcomers are always welcome! I'm sure we can find some supporting role for you!" the girl, Gigi, smiled passive aggressively, her piercing blue eyes now looking straight into Crystal's. Her eyes flashed with something Crystal didn't recognize as she held the pen out to her.

"No no, just looking!" Crystal responded quickly as she didn't want Gigi to get the wrong idea and end up on her bad side.

"Okay, great!" now switching her attention to Kyle. "Kyle, did i mention how handsome you look today? I sure missed you during vacation," Gigi said with the same flirty voice from before.

" _Kyle must be her boyfriend_ ," Crystal thought, not that she care, but then saw the awkward look on the guy next to her's face which seemed to say otherwise.

"Yeah-uh- me too!" Kyle stuttered. Gigi looked back and forth between the two of them before turning down the nearest hallway and bidding them goodbye with a " _toodles_!"

As soon as Gigi was out of her sight the fake smile that was plastered across her face dropped. " _God it is hard pretending to be straight_ ," she couldn't stop her mind from thinking. " _Especially in front of a pretty girl._ "


	3. Detention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gigi is intrigued by Crystal, and is paranoid that Crystal might be onto her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter is a little less boring than the last two! I can’t wait to get to some of the stuff i have planned but i don’t wanna rush the story so bare with me! Hope you enjoy pls leave a comment letting me know what ya think xo

Gigi Goode had known for her entire life that she wasn't like other girls. Not in the way that most people figure it out though. She loved all of the girly things, the barbies, the pretty pink dresses, the makeup, you name it! She was the same in that way. But when all the other little girls gushed about the princes in the Disney movies they watched, Gigi was more mesmerized by the princesses.

Of course she had no idea what this difference meant for her future as a child. Middle school showed her that though, when Jackie Cox came out to the school as being bisexual. She was bullied ruthlessly for it, called terrible names, pushed into lockers, the list goes on. " _If they bullied like this Jackie for being bi, they would probably bury me in a ditch if they knew I was lesbian_ ," Gigi decided.

It was then that she decided that nobody else had to know. And by nobody, she meant not even her twin brother. It was in her best interest to keep these feelings hidden tightly away, only telling them to her secret diary. She put on a facade of being boy crazy, of being obsessed with Kyle, and of being a bitch to all the other girls so that nobody would suspect a thing. And so far, it was working quite well for her. Kyle and everyone else in the school were completely convinced that she was in love with him (she was in the drama club after all, of course she was a good actress), and all of the girls were too scared to even step too close to her. All she had to do was keep up the straight girl act for the next year and a half of high school; it would be easy really, as long as she didn't have any distractions...such as a certain curly haired brunette...

✽ ✽ ✽ 

The morning went by quickly and after lunch, Crystal was headed to what she predicted would be her favorite class, art/art history. She sat down next to a dark haired girl who she recognized as Jackie Cox. Their small talk was interrupted by Gigi who was sitting across the table.

"So! It seemed like you knew Kyle Smith," Gigi spoke with the same passive aggressive tone from before.

"Not really, he was just showing me around," Crystal quietly said back, trying not to disrupt the class.

"Interesting, well don't get any ideas because—"

"Uh- shouldn't that be Picasso instead of Davinci?" Crystal cut off Gigi to ask the teacher, who was matching paintings to their artists on the board. The teacher, Mrs. Sakura, looked at Crystal with a skeptical look before looking back at the board to check her work.

"Yes, it seems that it should be," Mrs. Sakura smiled at Crystal. "Welcome to the school."

Gigi sat there with her mouth gaping as she stared at Crystal. " _She's pretty AND smart?! This is gonna be harder than I anticipated_ ," Gigi thought, slightly annoyed. Meanwhile, Jackie was completely excited at seeing that Crystal was a total art nerd like herself. She knew she had to get her to sign up for the art show.

Crystal practically bolted up when class ended and made sure to pass through the lobby on her way to her next class so that she could look at the musical sign up sheet. Of course she tried to be discreet, but Gigi had been walking not far behind her and seen the entire ordeal. _Was she trying to take her spot in the musical? Was she plotting against her? Why would she do that? Had she caught onto Gigi's staring at her?_ Gigi didn't know what it was, but something about Crystal was just so mysterious. She wanted to know more.

When Gigi got to her next class, she asked the teacher for a pass to the library so that she could "print something." As soon as she was in the back right corner of the library, out of sight from any other students lingering around, she turned the computer in front of her on. She didn't have much time so she worked quickly, typing Crystal's name into the search engine to try to find out anything she could about the girl.

**"Local Girl Wins Cash Prize for Art Competition** " the headline read. At the top of the article was a picture of Crystal smiling brightly with a large canvas on an easel next to her. " _Wow...it can't hurt to just look at her, right? That's normal, normal people do stuff like that, it doesn't mean anything_ ," Gigi convinced herself and with that she found herself scrolling through pictures of the girl. Gigi sat there letting herself just stare for a little too long, jolting out of her trance when she heard her name.

"Geege? What're you doing in here?" _Shit_. It was Gavin. Before Gigi had the chance to close the tab he was leaning against the back of her chair and asking, "Why are you looking at pictures of the new girl?" in a confused tone. Gigi had to think of an excuse. Fast. Not even her twin brother could know what she was really up to. Her mouth was moving before she had fully thought through what she wanted to say.

"Jesus Gavin! You scared the crap out of me! I was just doing some research on her, I saw her looking at the sign up sheet for the musical before. I think she's up to something. I don't know what it is, but we need to stop her. I was looking for something we could use against her!"

"Oh, well did you find anything?" _Phew, that was a close one._

"Just this article about her winning some art contest...maybe we can use it to get Jackie to recruit her to the art club...get her out of our hair," Gigi thought up an idea on the spot. Gavin quickly went along with the plan, which Gigi was grateful for. Not only did it crush any suspicion Gavin might have had, but it would ensure that Gigi and Crystal didn't cross paths too often, making life a little easier for Gigi.

✽ ✽ ✽ 

The rest of the school day went smoothly for Crystal and soon the final bell was ringing and she was on her way to the auditorium for _detention_. Crystal had never had detention in her entire 17 years of living. She was a good student, a teacher's pet even sometimes, and she always got good grades. She knew things would be different at her new school. She would have to focus more on her work, which is why she wasn't joining any clubs yet, but she never thought that she would end up in trouble, let alone on her first day.

Upon walking up the stairs to the stage, Crystal was immediately bombarded by an eager looking Jackie.

"Yes! The answer is yes!" Jackie exclaimed.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"The art club has it's first art show in two weeks and there is certainly room for you!" Jackie was flailing around a piece of paper excitedly.

"Where did that come from?" Crystal questioned, point to the paper that she now recognized as an article about her winning an art contest back at home.

"Didn't you put it in my locker?"

"No! Of course not."

"Oh, well, still! We would love to have you in the art show anyway! The art club meets almost every day after school, please?" Jackie begged.

"I don't know...I really need to get adjusted to everything for a while...but I'll think about it!"

Gigi watched from a few feet away, feeling a little guilty that Crystal had to suffer the consequences of the silly lie she had told to protect herself.

"Well what a perfect opportunity to get adjusted, you know, by joining a club!" Gavin butted in, going along with Gigi's made up plan and trying to encourage Crystal.

"So many new faces in detention today! Let's not make a habit of it, but it is nice to have some extra hands helping out the drama club! While you are here—" Ms. Sport continued on her tangent but Crystal was too distracted to keep listening. She found her eyes wandering over to the blonde again, watching her pretend to work on the set. Something about Gigi was so intriguing to Crystal, despite the fact that she could probably ruin her if she wanted to. Crystal zoned out while looking at her, only to be snapped out of it by none other than Gigi Goode herself, who was now standing directly in front of her with her hands planted on her hips.

"What are _you_ looking at, new girl? Are you trying to spread your nerd germs to me!?" Gigi asked in the nastiest voice she could muster. _Crystal must be on to her. She must've seen her staring and now she was trying to get in her head and psych her out about it. Gigi was not going to let that happen. She needed to keep the power._

"I- no! I was just- uh- sorry. I just zoned out, I didn't mean to stare!" Crystal stuttered out a half truth. Gigi just shot her another dirty look before turning and walking back towards Gavin. " _I knew I shouldn't have been staring!_ " Crystal cursed herself for being so stupid and careless. " _Steer clear of the blonde dressed in all pink_ ," she remembered her mental note from this morning. For whatever reason, despite Gigi being a total bitch just as she expected, she wasn't so sure that she wanted to "steer clear" of her.


	4. Auditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crystal and Kyle try out for the winter musical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii!! Sorry i feel like this is sort of another boring chapter, but i promise the next one will be more interesting! Also at a certain point later on I’m not gonna follow the plot of the movie exactly, so hope that’s okay. Leave a comment letting me know what u think xoxo

Kyle found himself staring at Crystal the next day during drama class, while Crystal found herself staring at Gigi again for some reason. She at least tried to be more careful this time though; she didn't want to be scolded by the girl like she was yesterday. Gigi was dressed in all pink again today, but her long blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with some small pieces falling down around her face. Crystal wished she could pull off an outfit like that.

Her whole "being careful" thing was thrown out the window when Gigi suddenly whipped her head around to look at her. She squinted at Crystal, giving her a cold look, before turning back around and starting to panic slightly. _Could she read minds or something? Why won't she stop staring??_ Gigi was totally paranoid that Crystal knew her secret somehow. Knew that she might just maybe have a tiny little baby crush on her, and now she was just trying to make her go crazy. Her silent freaking out was put to an immediate stop when Ms. Sport began to speak.

"Good morning class! I trust you all have learned your classroom manners! I have a few announcements for you. This morning during free period I will be holding auditions for the winter musical in the auditorium; solos first and then pairs!" Gigi and Gavin looked at each other and giggled at that. Not even her paranoia could ruin her excitement. "I will be in the theatre until lunch!"

Everything inside of Crystal was telling her that it couldn't hurt to just go audition. " _But that will put me on Gigi's bad side_ ," she contemplated if it was worth it. After a little bit of thinking, Crystal decided that she would just go watch the auditions from the back of the theatre. And so during free period, that's exactly what she did. She snuck off making sure that nobody important saw her, and was soon sitting in the darkness that was the back of the school auditorium.

The auditions had already started and nobody that Crystal knew had performed yet. After the solo auditions, the curtains closed. She sat there confused for a second, but the two sets of hands came peaking out of the middle and a more upbeat song began to play. When the curtains opened she saw Gigi and Gavin, wearing coordination sparkly outfits and prancing around the stage in sync.

Crystal was absolutely mesmerized, whether it was by the performance itself or the performers she wasn't sure. But she could not keep her eyes off the stage.

"Hey! Didn't expect to see you here!" Kyle whisper shouted as he sat down beside her, startling her out of her trance.

"Oh, yea! I just wanted to watch I guess. I'm too scared to actually audition," Crystal spoke quietly in a timid voice, still not taking her eyes off of the sparkling outfits.

"Me too. Like I told you before my friends would tease me until the day I die." Kyle laughed. Gigi and Gavin finished their performance and Ms. Sport applauded dramatically.

"Any last minute sign ups? Last call! No? Nobody? Okay, then we're done," Ms Sport spoke to everyone in the theatre.

Crystal felt a rush of impulsiveness run through her and before she could think twice she was stepping out from the darkness and yelling "WAIT! I'd like to audition Ms. Sport!"

"Ms. Methyd I already said last call; unless you are deaf all of a sudden there is no excuse! The theatre waits for no one, and you don't have a partner anyway."

Crystal was about to turn around and go back to class when Kyle came out of the darkness too and volunteered reluctantly.

"I'll sing with her Ms. Sport!"

"Ahh, Kyle Smith. Where is your basketball posse or whatever it's called?"

"Team," he corrected, "and I'm here alone. Well, I'm here to sing with Crystal actually." Crystal could not believe that he was doing this for her; she felt very grateful for him in that moment.

"Yes, well, we take these shows very seriously here at East High, and that means punctuation is important. I'm sorry but free period is now over," Ms Sport said with the tiniest bit of sympathy peaking through in her tone. She then proceeded to walk out of the theatre with her bags in hand.

The pianist gathered her stuff too, but dropped it clumsily, leaving sheet music scattered across the stage. Crystal and Kyle both ran up on to the stage to help her pick up the mess she had just made.

"So, you wrote the song Gigi and Gavin just sang?" Kyle asked the girl who he now recognized was the composer of the show. She nodded.

"That's awesome! You shouldn't let them push you around so much, it's your show after all.

"I don't know, it sucks but it is what it is I guess. I'm Jaida by the way," the girl told them. She had her black hair pulled into a low bun with a little hat on top of her head, pretty brown eyes, and smooth dark skin.

"You should get to do things your way!" Crystal chimed in.

"I guess; do you guys wanna hear how the duet was _supposed_ to sound?"

Crystal and Kyle looked at each other and nodded, there was nobody listening anyway, what was the harm? Jaida handed them the sheet music and started to play her piano as the two stood around it. It was much slower and prettier than Gigi and Gavin's version, although Crystal had enjoyed their performance anyway. The pair sang in harmony, just like they had at the resort party on New Years Eve a litte over a week ago.

The entire time Kyle looked at Crystal as he sang, admiring the way her curls fell and how her face lit up when she sang her part. Crystal just looked at the lyrics, oblivious to the fact that the boy next to her was staring intently at her. They finished the duet flawlessly, leaving a huge smile across Jaida's face.

"Ms. Methyd, Mr. Smith, you have a callback! Jaida give them the duet from the second act and work on it with them," Ms. Sport's voice boomed through the theatre as she emerged from the darkness where Crystal and Kyle were sitting just minutes ago.

Kyle stood there stunned as Jaida excitedly babbled about when and where they could rehearse for callbacks. Crystal instantly felt her body starting to fill with regret. " _Gigi is going to want my head on a platter_ ," was the only thing going through her mind.

✽✽✽

"A CALLBACK!? THEY GOT A CALLBACK!?" Gigi was furious. The callback sheet had just been put up in the school lobby, and there right under her and Gavin's names read " _Kyle Smith and Crystal Methyd_."

"What are you screaming about?" Chad, Kyle's best friend and teammate, asked as he approached Gigi and Gavin. She didn't have to say anything because as soon as he read the paper on the wall in front of her he understood what all the fuss was about.

"We need to do something," Chad took the words right out of Gigi's mouth. At this point Gigi was sure that Crystal was onto her and was trying to sabotage her life. She needed to not only get her off her trail, but also get her out of her way for the musical. The thought of spending any extra time around Crystal made her head spin.

Gigi had a plan. She knew that Jackie had been trying to convince Crystal to join the art club and participate in the art show; she just needed to encourage her a little more. In between the next periods, Gigi searched the hallways for Jackie.

"You need to get Crystal to join your little club." Gigi got straight to the point when she saw Jackie standing at her locker.

"Okay first of all, yes, I'm trying. Second of all, what's it to you?" Jackie seemingly had yet to hear about the callbacks.

"Crystal and Kyle _somehow_ got a callback for the musical. I need them out of my way. And I'm sure Chad isn't happy about this either. You guys should talk to each other." Gigi chose not to mention her other motive for getting Crystal away from her.

"What?! That's crazy, and so out of line! I'll talk to Chad, but not because I care about your musical. I'm doing it because I want Crystal in the art show anyway," Jackie told her. Jackie and Gigi had never gotten along; Gigi had always been mean to her (for the same reason she was mean to all the girls at school). There was no way she was gonna let Gigi think she was doing her a favor.

"Fine, I don't care why you do it, just make sure they can't go to callbacks."


	5. Status Quo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gigi tries to put Crystal in her place (away from her), but it doesn’t go to plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!! So because i want to keep this story as realistic as possible, they’re not gonna be singing in this scene. Cuz it’s not really normal to break into song in the cafeteria ya know? Also!! This story will be HSM 1 & 2 !! Hope this is okay with everyone:)
> 
> TW for slight homophobia maybe, its not much but just wanna be considerate!

The bell rang signaling the start of lunch and Gigi stormed to the cafeteria feeling extremely frustrated. By now the entire school had heard about the callbacks, and nobody else seemed too happy either. 

In East High, people knew to stay in their lanes. _Well, most of them anyway_. If you were a jock, you played sports. If you were a nerd, you read books. And if you weren't Gigi or Gavin, you did not get a callback for the couple in the musical productions. You didn't even try out. That's just how it worked. Nobody dared to differ from the norm or step out of their box.

Gigi quickly found her seat on the deck of the cafeteria, up the stairs and above everyone else, at a table with the drama club. She didn't sit in it though, instead she paced anxiously while looking down at her classmates. Her eyes were drawn to the table of basketball players. She waited to see if Chad would say anything to Kyle, but Kyle was nowhere to be seen.

She continued to watch as a boy named Aaron stood up and began to speak loudly to the table.

"Listen up guys, i have a confession," they all looked at him with interest, beckoning him to go on ,"if Kyle can tell his secret then so can I...I bake. Cookies, cakes, pastries, you name it!"

Chad immediately shot him a look that could kill. This was exactly what Gigi wanted to happen. The entire cafeteria would go into an uproar and Crystal and Kyle would feel so bad that they would drop out of the running for the musical.

"Aaron, we play basketball, it's just what we do! Everyone needs to stop trying to step out of their comfort zone. It's wrong. Stick to the stuff you know!" Chad spoke back to him firmly. At this point much of the cafeteria was listening to their interaction.

A girl with red hair at a nearby table also stood up, clearly being encouraged by what Aaron had just done.

"I know you all think that I'm just a smart girl, but I have a secret hobby too...I love hip hop." A smile beamed across her face.

"Is that some kind of new science thing??" the boy next to her questioned.

"No! The dance style! I love to pop and lock and break. It's my passion!" she did a little dance move as she said this and the cafeteria full of students looked at her in disgust.

“Oh god! That’s practically a crime! Stick to chemistry and physics please, for everyone’s sake!”

Chaos ensued as more and more students from different tables and cliques decided to confess their secret interests. Someone from the film club admitted to loving soccer; someone from the skateboarding club admitted to playing the cello. People were yelling at each other and throwing food in frustration. And Crystal and Kyle, who were the reason behind all of this, were still nowhere to be seen.

"This is NOT what was supposed to happen!" Gigi exclaimed as she marched down the stairs towards the rest of the students and the mess that was being made. The goal was not to start a food fight; she just wanted Chad and Jackie to have a conversation with their friends privately and that to be the end of it.

In that moment, Crystal stumbled unknowingly into the cafeteria with her tray of food in hand.

"What's going on? Why's everyone staring at you?" she asked as she found Jackie.

"Not me, you!"

"What, because of the callbacks?" Jackie nodded. "Oh my god! I can't have people staring at me I just can't!"

“Well maybe you should’ve thought about that before you broke the unwritten school rules. Nobody would be staring at you if you had just joined the art club.”

The chaos continued, the floor now covered in food, as Crystal and Jackie tried to make their way over to their own table. Gigi had now spotted Crystal and was charging towards her, ready to yell at the girl and put her in her place, when Crystal slipped on a pile of mashed potatoes and was sent flying backwards on to her backside.

Before Gigi could react, Crystal's tray of lunch (which consisted of spaghetti and meatballs) was splattering all over her chest and splashing up onto her face.

Crystal quickly collected herself from the ground when she realized that her tray was no longer in her hands, and felt panic rise in her stomach when she saw where it had landed. _So much for staying on Gigi's good side._

"Crystal what the fuck! I JUST bought this track suit!"

"Oh my god Gigi. Oh my god. Don't move! I'm so sorry! Let me help you oh my god," Crystal was now frantically rubbing the spaghetti sauce off of Gigi's chest with her tan hands.

Gigi's breath hitched in her throat and her cheeks flushed bright red. This was definitely _not_ the situation she had imagined this happening in ( _not that she had imagined it at all of course_ ). Her mind roamed for a few seconds, not being able to move. She knew Crystal was doing this on purpose; she was trying to get a rise out of her. Trying to get her to react, to make a fool out of herself. This could not be happening. Not here, not now. " _Everyone is gonna figure out the secret that I've worked so hard to keep, all because of Crystal,_ " was all Gigi could think, which snapped her out of her unresponsive state and caused anger to course through her body.

"Get off of me! What are you, a lesbian or something? Don't touch me you freak!" Gigi's words stung as they escaped her throat. She then ran out of the cafeteria and straight to the bathroom.

Crystal stood there for a second, taking in the words that Gigi had just spat at her. _Why would she think that of her?_ A puzzled expression spread across her face, trying to figure out what she had done to make a Gigi call her that, when she realized where she had just been rubbing. Her hands then tingled and felt like they were on fire where she had just been touching her. Touching her in a place that maybe she shouldn't have. _Why did her hands feel like that?_ She didn’t have time to think about this right now. She did her best to push the questions to the side and ran after the girl. Crystal felt the need to fix what she had just done. She wasn't sure why, but she wanted so badly for Gigi to like her.

"Gigi, wait! Please open up!" Crystal knocked on the stall that Gigi had locked herself in.

"What do you want Crystal? Haven't you done enough damage already?" Crystal didn't respond, just leaned against the door. Gigi leaned against it from the inside, trying to catch her breath for a second before opening it to face her.

"Why don't you just get it over with already Crystal? Just get it over with, please! I don't care anymore! Just stop torturing me!" she begged.

"What? What do you mean?" Crystal's tone sounded genuinely lost and hurt, which confused Gigi even more. _Did she really not know what she was doing to her? Was Crystal actually clueless about Gigi's secret? Was this all in her head?_

Gigi chose to ignore the question, pushing past the shorter girl to walk up to the mirror. Her velvety pink tracksuit had a big red splotch across her chest, and there was little splashes of sauce on her pale cheeks as well.

Crystal ran over to the sink, grabbing a paper towel and wetting it before turning to Gigi.

"Let me help, please, it's the least I can do," Crystal said reaching out with the wet paper towel to try to clean Gigi again.

"Stop Crystal! I can do it myself! Just stop!" Gigi snatched it out of her hand harshly and began scrubbing her own chest. Crystal's eyes fixated on her motions for a few seconds before snapping back up to Gigi's face to ask:

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"What? I- I don't hate you Crystal." Gigi sounded a little defeated. She knew she had been harsh with Crystal, but didn't think she would actually be upset by her words and actions.

"Well then why have you been so mean to me? It is because I've been hanging around Kyle? Because there's nothing going on between us, I swear! Or is it because of the callback? Because if that's it then I'll just—"

"No...and you don't need to lie about Kyle," she laughed slightly at the girl's attempt to cover up her obvious feelings towards Kyle just for her sake. Crystal seriously thought Gigi liked Kyle; she truly was clueless despite Gigi's paranoia. Crystal stayed silent, urging her to continue with her answer.

"It's just...it's just easier this way, okay? This is just how it has to be." Crystal stared at her, beyond confused now. Gigi proceeded to wipe her face gently, her eyes coming up to meet Crystal's through the mirror. They held the eye contact for a few seconds before the hurt look on Crystal’s face became too much for Gigi and she forced herself to look away.

She pushed past Crystal again, this time going towards the bathroom door, and taking one last glance at her before turning and walking out. Once out of Crystal's sight, Gigi found the nearest door and barged inside, slamming it behind her. " _How ironic_ ," she thought as she realized that she was now inside of a closet (a janitor's to be exact). The smell of chemicals stung her nose as a single tear trickled down her cheek. If Crystal wasn't on to her before then she _definitely_ was suspicious now. Gigi was usually a professional at keeping her emotions bottled inside and keeping a stone cold exterior, but having the beautiful new girl basically feel her up made it a little more challenging. She wanted nothing more than to let Crystal help her clean up, but she couldn’t let herself give in to those urges. She had made it this far; she wasn’t going to let some silly little crush, especially on a _straight_ girl, ruin that now. At least this interaction would probably discourage Crystal from trying to talk to her again.

Meanwhile, Crystal was also left with only her thoughts. The thick air that had formed between the two remained in the bathroom even with the blonde gone. _What did that even mean? Easier?? And what did she mean about Kyle?_ Crystal liked Kyle, sure. But she didn’t feel a different way than how she felt about Jackie, or her friends back home. She didn’t want Gigi to think she was lying to her about trying to get with the guy she liked because that was really not the case. And why would being mean to her be easier? Did she think that way about everybody, or just Crystal? She had a million questions running through her head and nobody to ask.

Every word Gigi said to Crystal only left her even more intrigued by the girl. She decided that no matter what it took, she was going to make it so that it was no longer "easier" for Gigi to be mean to her.


	6. The Roof Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kyle invites Crystal up to the roof, and she somehow ends up in the bathroom with Gigi, again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have friends from out of state visiting this weekend so I probably won't have much time to write, but I'll try my best! Hope this chapter can hold u over;) anyway this chapter is dedicated to Elaina because she lowkey predicted a lot of it LOL enjoy!

"Do you think Gigi is gonna ruin me now? I said I was sorry!" It was the class after lunch now, and Crystal was still freaking out about everything that had gone down.

"Nobody has tried to beat Gigi out for the musical in _years_ ," Jackie informed her.

"I wasn't trying to beat her! I would never do that. I just want to stay on her good side, really!"

"Crys, calm down. Why do you want to be on her good side so bad anyways? It's not like she's some goddess or something," Jackie laughed. Crystal begged to differ, but chose to say silent.

It would be pointless to try to argue with Jackie: Jackie would always win. Jackie was smart and stubborn and persuasive, but also very welcoming. So far, she was Crystal's only friend at East High. Unless you count Kyle, but she knew him before so that was a little different. Crystal felt a little bad for not joining the art club like Jackie so desperately wanted her to. Even if she wanted to focus on settling in, she still felt bad.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by a her phone vibrating in her back pocket and swiftly pulled it out to see who could be texting her.

**Kyle** : so i guess everyone knows ab the singing thing now

**Crystal** : yea...we caused a whole food fight LOL

**Kyle** : guess we did.. id say that makes us a pretty powerful duo :)

**Crystal** : i mean not necessarily in a good way but i guess so hahah

**Kyle** : yea this sucks, im just glad i have u to go through all of it with;))

Crystal paused before typing back. Winky faces?? He was probably just joking around, _right_? She shook it off and wrote back.

**Crystal** : lmaoo yeah. gtg now. ttyl.

She didn't actually have to go, the teacher didn't care if they used their phones, but she didn't feel the need to continue their conversation.

She zoned out while staring at a little red stain on her sleeve, tomato sauce. From wiping it off of Gigi. _Gigi_. Why was she thinking so much about Gigi?? Before she could dive further into her thoughts, the bell rang.

Kyle found her in the hallway and walked her to her next class. And the next one after that the period after. And all of her classes the next day...and the day after that...and after that..for the whole rest of the week. It wasn't that Crystal didn't enjoy the company or like talking to Kyle, she just preferred to walk alone with her thoughts in the halls. But Kyle didn't seem to pick that up no matter how many hints she dropped, so she gave up and just talked with him on the way to each class. They made small talk about their days and about the callback.

"We should start practicing with Jaida soon if we are really gonna do this," Kyle stated. Now that everyone knew anyway there was no point in not going through with it.

"Yeah i agree, I'll talk to her! We can practice during free period."

And so after talking to Jaida, it was decided that they would begin rehearsing during free period every day, starting the next Tuesday, as Jaida was going on a field trip on Monday.

Soon enough it was said Monday, and Crystal realized that she had not spoken to Gigi since the previous Wednesday when she had scolded her in the bathroom. She had hardly even seen her. But today she would change that. She was determined to get Gigi to explain what she had meant by "easier" and to be nice to her if it was the last thing she did. She just needed to wait for the right moment.

When Crystal walked out of art class she was surprised to see that Kyle wasn't outside waiting for her, not that she minded. This was her moment to go find Gigi. She would stop at her locker to grab her stuff for the next two classes and then find her.

She walked quickly to her locker in the science wing and a small piece of paper fell out when she swung it open. She picked it up and read:

_"Meet me on the roof, up the stairs on the right side of the science wing at 10~ Kyle"_

Crystal huffed a little after reading it, then checked the time to see it was 9:57. _So_ _that's why he wasn't outside her classroom waiting._ She considered ignoring Kyle's request but then figured there was no harm in going, as the bell had already rang now, meaning she had already missed her opportunity to talk to the blonde girl.

She found the stairs easily and trudged up them. Her dark curls were illuminated under the sunlight as she reached the top of the staircase and she found herself surrounded by tons of beautiful plants and blossoming flowers. Kyle was sitting on a little bench on the other side of the roof, waiting for her. He was wearing a blue polo and jean shorts, and had a huge grin plastered across his face.

"So, is this like your secret hangout or something?"

"Yeah, something like that," he chuckled, and then patted the spot next to him on the bench beckoning Crystal to sit down.

Not wanting to just stand there staring at him (especially since her heeled boots were starting to make her feet ache), she obliged. He scooted closer to her as she did. Crystal's body tensed at this, but Kyle didn't seem to notice and just stretched his arm out behind her, which made her tense even more.

She tried to relax by taking in her surroundings. The roof was covered in all types greenery. She spotted some daisies, her favorite flower, and tried to breathe in the smell of them to calm herself a bit. It was a little windy out today, and Crystals hair was blowing around wildly. Kyle took it upon himself to brush it out of her face.

"You look really pretty right now. Well- uh- you always do but um—"

"Thanks."

"You're welcome!"

The awkward silence filled the air for a few seconds too long and Crystal felt the need to break it.

"So...why did you want me to come up here anyways?"

"Oh-right. I-uh...i don't really know. I guess i just wanted to spend more time with you?" he sounded extremely nervous now and Crystal had no idea where this was going. "I really like you Crystal," he was finally able to get out.

Crystal blinked at her hands that were resting in her lap for a few seconds before turning and looking at him.

"Um...you mean like..in a friendly way, _right_?" Crystal was almost positive that he did not mean in a friendly way, but maybe if she said that then he would get the hint and just agree.

"I mean, you're a great friend don't get me wrong...but i mean like...in a more than that kind of way."

_Fuck. Of course he wouldn't get the hint_.

"Oh...i-uh..I don't know what to say. I'm flattered, really I am. I had no idea you felt that way! I-um.." Crystal felt a sense of panic starting to rise in her chest. She hated awkward situations and this most definitely counted as one of those.

"You don't have to say anything! You can just show me how you feel..." Kyle told her, and before Crystal could realize what was happening, Kyle was grabbing her by the chin and pulling her in.

He laid his chapped lips on top of Crystal's pink lipstick covered ones, not being very gentle as he did so. By the time Crystal was able to process what was happening, his lips were already moving hungrily against hers and his tongue was trying to prod its way into her mouth. He tasted like how orange juice tastes in the morning after you brush your teeth. Her eyes shot open and her hands rose to his shoulders, effectively pushing him off of her. Crystal stood up from the bench and made a run for the stairs; she _needed_ to find a trash can or toilet, she felt like she was going to puke.

"Hey! Crystal, wait! Was i too rough? We can try that again, I'll be more gentle!" Kyle yelled after her, but she just darted down the staircase and did not look back.

She needed to get to a bathroom and fast. Once down the stairs, Crystal jogged through the hallways, towards the art wing bathroom that was usually empty. Her vision was blurred by the hot tears that had started streaming down her cheeks at some point, her breathing was more of a gasp by now.

Apparently running blindly through the hall was not the best idea, because she soon felt herself running into someone and falling to the ground, hard. Crystal rubbed her eyes to try to see who she had just collided with, but the voice that spoke revealed that to her immediately.

"You are seriously the clumsiest person I have ever met."

Gigi stood above her now, looking down at her with a pissed off look on her face. Crystal's face burned with the embarrassment of having anyone, _especially_ Gigi, see her like this. Maybe if she pretended she wasn't there then she would just walk away.

"Wait, are you crying?? What's wrong?" Guess not.

"Yeah. I am. Laugh all you want, I don't need this right now," Crystal spoke sternly as she pushed herself up off the ground and to her feet, continuing to walk towards the bathroom.

Gigi didn't say anything, much to Crystal's surprise, just followed her at a distance. Crystal had about 3 seconds alone in the bathroom before Gigi barged in after her.

"Gigi, seriously, not the time."

"What happened? Are you okay?" Gigi sounded genuinely concerned, because she was. As much as she had been trying to ignore her feelings for the shorter girl and be as cold as possible, she could not do that right now, not seeing her like this.

"You really wanna know what happened?" Crystal scoffed. Gigi was going to hate her even more when she learned that she had just kissed the guy she liked, but at this point she had nothing to lose.

"Yes. I wont judge. I promise," she said with a sympathetic smile, taking a step closer to Crystal. Whoever this girl standing in front of Crystal was, it was not the Gigi she knew. This girl sounded truly concerned for Crystal's well-being.

"Kyle kissed me."

Gigi laughed.

"See? This is why I didn't want to tell—"

"No! It's just..why is that a problem?"

"What? Why wouldn't it be? First of all, I don't like him that way. Second of all, aren't you mad??"

"You don't??" Gigi chose to disregard Crystal's second question. She knew it would be dangerous for her to answer truthfully, and she couldn't bring herself to lie right now.

"No! God no! He's just my friend."

"But...he's supposed to be like— the cutest guy in the school! I've heard many girls would kill for him to like them!"

"What do you mean supposed to be? And he's cute i guess in like a...'aww' kinda way. But not in the 'i want to kiss you' way!" Crystal lightened up a little bit and giggled. She knew Gigi was right, most of the school was obsessed with Kyle, so why didn't she like him?

Gigi could not tear her eyes away from Crystal's lips as she spoke, where her bright pink lipstick was smeared slightly below them. She felt some sort of impulse come over her and before she could control it she was reaching forward and saying:

"You uh- your lipstick. Here," she hesitantly gripped Crystal's chin, and softly brushed the pad of her thumb across the girl's lower lip.

Crystal instantly stopped breathing. There it was again. That tingling feeling that her hands had gotten the week prior when she wiped her lunch off of Gigi. But this time, she felt it in her lips. _Did Gigi have some sort of electrical charge or something??_ She felt her ears get hot first, then her neck and then face. She couldn't move. All she could do was stand there like a statue, holding her breath and staring at Gigi's face. The blonde's usual cold expression had now gone soft.

Gigi touched her as if she could break if she was too rough, quite literally the opposite of how Kyle had just shortly before. Her thumb lingered on her lips for maybe a little longer than it needed to, and she looked up to see Crystal already staring at her intently.

"There you go," she finally pulled her hand away, and Crystal immediately missed the contact. _Why the fuck did she feel like she was gonna faint?_

"Thanks. Is- uh- is the rest of my makeup okay?”

“Your mascara is a little smudged, but you still look beautiful.” _Fuck. She did not mean to say that out loud._

“I- I do?”

“Um. Yeah...you always do,” Gigi cursed herself again for letting her thoughts just fall out of her mouth. Crystal had to be smooth brained if she wasn’t on to Gigi by now. Both of the girls just stood there awkwardly, neither of knowing what to say now.

"So...you really don't like Kyle? I swore you had a thing for him."

"I could say the same thing to you Miss Goode! But no, I really don't."

Gigi hated the way this new information made her feel. She shook off the feeling and reminded herself that even if Crystal didn't like Kyle, she was still straight, and so was Gigi as far as everyone else knew.

"Oh god, it's gonna be so awkward to be around him now," Gigi was thankful that the subject was being changed before she had to respond to Crystal's previous statement.

She laughed again at that, and Crystal felt her heart skip a little at the sound. _What the fuck was that about??_

"Yeah, good luck with that. Well...I should get back to class now." Gigi said, despite wanting to stay there with Crystal for the rest of the period she knew it was not a good idea.

"Oh—right! Me too! And uh- Gigi?" Gigi turned to look at her from the doorway as she made her way out. "Thanks."

Gigi gave her a little smile, which made her stomach flip, and then she was gone into the hallway. Crystal cleaned herself up, reapplied her mascara that she had cried off, and headed to class herself.

Later that night, Crystal was lying on her bed after dinner, going over her day as per usual. She felt more confused than she ever had before, and found herself with a million questions. Why didn't she like kissing Kyle? Scratch that, why did she feel like she was going to throw up after kissing Kyle? And why was Gigi so different today? What was that whole tingly butterfly thing her body had done in the bathroom? Her mind felt foggy.

As she drifted off she came to two conclusions.

1\. She did not like Kyle. Not in the "i want to kiss you" kind of way, at least.

2\. She did like Gigi. Maybe even in the "i want to kiss you" kind of way.


	7. Rehearsal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't really like this chapter it's kinda just a filler, but hopefully things will pick up again soon! Thanks for being patient for this update xoxoxo leave a comment if u feel like it i would really appreciate it!

Crystal woke up the next morning absolutely dreading having to rehearse with Kyle and Jaida during free period. What would she say to Kyle? How could she possibly tell him, "I don't like you like that. Or anyone of your _kind_ really. In fact, I like someone else. And that someone else just so happens to be Gigi Goode." She laughed to herself at the thought. There was no way she could avoid him. She would have to think of some sort of explanation that seemed realistic and kept them civil.

She threw on the most boring outfit she owned; maybe if she blended in more she would at least avoid Kyle in the hallways today. She then quickly ate her fruity pebbles and dragged herself out of the comfort of her house.

Her dad dropped her off at school just like he had every other day, and her heart nearly leapt out of her chest at the sight of the blonde girl getting out of her pink convertible. After coming to her little realization last night, Crystal had dreamt of the girl...what her hair smelled like...how it would feel to hold her hand...but she would never know. Because Crystal hadn't even known she could feel this way about a girl until 12 hours prior, and Gigi was as straight as a pencil. Even if Gigi wasn't straight, these feelings were so new to Crystal that she didn't know exactly what to do with them. That didn't mean she couldn't look though.

Crystal spent all of drama class trying to avoid Kyle's gaze and think of an excuse for why she had left the roof like her life depended on it yesterday. After lots of considerations and some pretty stupid ideas, she decided on the one that would cause the least amount of truthful explanation on her part.

And so after drama and science, Crystal was on her way to the music room to face the person that had made her so incredibly uncomfortable just the day before.

Jaida was already waiting at the piano with some music sheets when she walked in, but Kyle wasn't there yet.

"Where's Kyle?"

Before Crystal could answer Jaida's question the door swung open and in walked the subject of discussion. He had a very bothered look on his face, and Crystal guessed it was because of her presence. She decided that if they were going to talk, it would be after rehearsal. Alone.

Jaida handed them both their sheet music and they stood at opposite sides of the piano, Crystal looking down while Kyle stared at her expectantly. The two sang the new song together pretty much perfectly, only being pulled out of the zone when they heard a bang from outside of the door. Nobody should be in the hallway at this time, so a concerned Jaida stood up and peered our the little window in the door to investigate, but nobody was there. _At least not that she could see...but a certain blonde was thin enough to fit inside a locker._ Jaida resumed her position at the piano and the pair continued practicing like nothing had happened. Soon the bell was ringing and Jaida was packing up her stuff, saying she couldn't be late for her next class. And then it was just them in the music room.

"So...what was all that about yesterday?" Kyle broke the silence immediately.

" _You kissed me without consent and nearly bit off my tongue and I hated it"_ her mind said, but she decided to stick to her original plan and instead said:

"Oh I just wasn't feeling the best yesterday! I ran because I thought I was going to be sick," technically this was not a lie. He didn't need to know the true manor of her nausea.

"Oh! I knew you liked me!" Kyle huffed a sigh of relief and Crystal cringed. "So we can do that again some time yeah?"

"I'm still not feeling the best! I don't want to get you sick, I'm definitely contagious!" Crystal blurted out quickly. Clearly she had not thought this through completely. She cursed herself for making him think that if she was not "sick" then they would be kissing again. _Guess she'd have to be "sick" for a while_.

"Okay Crys, there's no rush," Crystal felt her skin crawl a bit at the nickname, and only to feel it nearly disintegrate when Kyle leaned towards her and placed a kiss on her cheek. And then he was out the door. What on earth had she just gotten herself into?

Not wanting to go to class just yet, she sat down at the piano bench, which was still warm from Jaida, and buried her face in her hands. She was overwhelmed and needed to talk to someone about her situation with Kyle. Should she tell Jackie what was going on? How could she explain to Jackie why she didn't like Kyle without mentioning Gigi? The creaking of the door snapped her out of her thoughts. Knowing it was probably Kyle coming back for something he forgot she chose to keep her head down; she could just say she was feeling nauseous again if he questioned her.

She heard loud, clacking footsteps coming her way and could suddenly feel a stare burning through her.

"So you guys are rehearsing for callbacks huh?"

Crystal's heart stopped beating. She knew that voice. She looked up to see none other than Gigi Goode, staring down at her with her arms crossed over her chest and a thin eyebrow raised. Gigi did _not_ look happy. If looks could kill Crystal would already be in a coffin.

"Uh..yeah..."

There was a beat of silence before Gigi said, "I told you you didn't have to lie to me about Kyle." Her arms were still crossed and her lips were now pursed with something that seemed to be disgust.

"I didn't! I swear Gigi! I just...I couldn't tell him the truth." Crystal buried her face back in her hands in embarrassment.

"And what would that be exactly?"

"What?"

"The truth. What would be the truth?" Crystal uncovered her face to see Gigi looking at her expectantly.

"Oh. Well the truth is what I told you yesterday. That I don't like him like that. But I can't tell him that." Crystal failed to mention the rest of it.

Gigi's brows furrowed into a confused expression now.

"Well if you don't like him then why would you let him kiss you on the cheek?" Gigi questioned with a hint of something Crystal couldn't quite distinguish in her tone. Crystal shuttered at the girl's suddenly louder voice and felt cold when she realized how what Gigi had seen must have looked.

"You..you saw that? Were you spying on us??"

Gigi's face flushed a light pink and she looked down at her heels.

"I- um... yeah i guess so. I heard singing from outside and my curiosity got the best of me..so i just watched through the little window in the door," Gigi confessed because she had already said too much to try to cover it up with a lie.

Crystal's mind faltered at the thought of Gigi watching her sing. And seeing Kyle be so affectionate.

"I let him do that because if I told him the truth he would have too many questions. And it would be so awkward to rehearse with him everyday."

Gigi scoffed at that. She should've known it was just Crystal being nice, but her jealous instincts had kicked in and made her overreact. She laughed at how pathetic she was for being jealous over someone who didn't even like her back.

"I thought you were done with this whole laughing at me thing."

"I wasn't laughing at you! I just..." Gigi trailed off not knowing what else to say, but an idea suddenly popped into her head. An idea that she would probably regret voicing later.

"I know you want to avoid Kyle as much as you can...and that you still need to rehearse for callbacks so...whatifIhelpedyourehearse?" Gigi blurted out before she could stop herself.

Crystal's eyes widened, locked on the blonde's thin face. Gigi would not only be hearing her sing but also be singing with her. Feelings aside, it would be helpful to have someone else to practice with so that she could avoid Kyle as much as possible. She considered it for a second before speaking up.

"Okay."

"Okay? Really??" Gigi accidentally let a small smile spread across her face which made it impossible for Crystal to change her mind now.

"Yeah, can we start during lunch tomorrow? I know Jaida normally does homework during lunch so I'm not sure if she'll be able to come, but I can ask her for a recording of the track or something."

Gigi tried not to let her mind wander at the thought of being alone with Crystal for longer than 5 minutes. " _Never gonna happen Gigi,_ " she had to remind herself to keep in touch with reality. Crystal just needed a singing partner to practice with that wasn't an asshole guy, that's all. 

"Sounds good to me. Don't tell anyone about this, by the way...we can meet in here tomorrow during lunch."

Crystal nodded rapidly and Gigi was exiting the room before she could say anything else in response.

Now all she needed was an excuse as to why she couldn't rehearse with Kyle during free period anymore. She whipped out her phone and texted Jackie, hoping she could tag along with her to whatever she usually did during that time.

**Crystal** : jack, what do you usually do during free period???

**Jackie** : art club meets every day so im there why

**Crystal** : perfect. im joining the art club.


	8. Piano

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He's uh...he's not my type..." Gigi trailed off, praying that Crystal had missed the way she had involuntarily put emphasis on "he".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiii!! I’m so so sorry that this took me so long to upload, I’ve been working on a oneshot and just been overall pretty busy but hopefully i can update more often:) this chapter is meh but lmk what you think or if you have any predictions xo

"I knew you would give in eventually," Jackie spoke with a smug smile. Crystal was following her through the hallway towards the art wing as free period started. She had texted Kyle a few minutes prior saying that she would be with Jackie and couldn't make it to their rehearsal. Of course he was disappointed by this, but frankly, Crystal did not care.

"Yeah yeah, whatever Jack," Crystal rolled her eyes playfully, "I just couldn't stand to listen to all your begging anymore!" she teased, opting to not tell her the real reason behind her joining. Jackie hit her lightly on the arm before grabbing her wrist to pull her to the art room faster.

Once they reached their destination Jackie took it upon herself to introduce Crystal to the rest of the students in the room.

"Everyone, this is Crystal. The girl the one the art contest back in her old town, remember? Well she's finally here! She's gonna make a great addition to our art show!" Jackie said with enthusiasm. "This is Lux," Jackie pointed to a small blonde girl with beautiful makeup, "this is Daya," now pointing to the tall brunette next to her, "Rock," motioning towards a shorter girl with black hair and a very bright dress. She proceeded to introduce the rest of the group: Daegen, Widow, Tiff, and Heidi.

Crystal smiled and waved at them before backtracking on Jackie's words.

"I never said I would be in the art show!" Crystal whisper yelled to Jackie. Jackie just looked at her with a nervous grin before walking over to the supply closet and bringing out some paints and canvases.

"Okay!" she clapped her hands together. "We need a new piece from each of you for the show, it's sneaking up on us quickly!" And with that the entire club set up their stations and put in their earbuds to begin their work. Except Crystal.

Crystal sat in silence staring at the blank canvas in front of her, wondering what in the world she had gotten herself into. _"At least I'm not singing with Kyle right now_ ," she thought to herself before picking up a brush and laying down some blue paint, just to pass the time.

Free period went by extremely slow, but after that lunch came quickly. Crystal was buzzing with anticipation and anxiety just thinking about being with the girl she liked and having to pretend she didn't have feelings. She stopped in the bathroom on her way to the music room to make sure she looked okay and put on some extra lip gloss. She then found herself sitting at the piano, shaking her leg uncontrollably as she waited for Gigi.

Crystal was so fixated on the keys of the piano that she didn't even notice that the girl had entered the room until she was leaning on the piano in front of her.

"Do you play?"

"What?" Crystal shook herself out of her daze.

"Piano. Do you play?" Gigi reiterated.

"No, I wish...do you?"

"Yep! Who did you think modifies Jaida's songs for Gavin and I?" Gigi laughed as she made her way over to Crystal's side of the piano, motioned for her to make room, and sat down next to her.

"Oh! I should've known, I'm such an idiot. I guess I never really thought about—"

"Relax Crystal, you couldn't have known!" Gigi noticed the brunette's unusually tense state. "So should we get started then?"

Crystal let out a breath that she had been holding in since Gigi sat down a little too close for comfort. "Yes...but I don't have the piano sheet music from Jaida, so we can just use the track she sent me!" Crystal spoke nervously. "I can ask her for it for tomorrow though! I would love to hear you play," she added, biting her tongue at the last part.

"Okay!" Gigi replied with more enthusiasm than she intended and with that Crystal was opening her messages from Jaida and pulling up the track. Gigi grabbed a piece of paper that had been sitting atop the piano and followed along with the lyrics. She was pretty familiar with the song as she sat with Jaida at lunch usually so she took over what was supposed to be Kyle's harmony seamlessly.

Crystal tried to keep her eyes focused on the sheet music, but it was difficult not to look to her right where she felt the blonde staring into her. She let her eyes slip up a few times, a blush spreading across her face each time as they met Gigi's, but immediately returned her gaze to the paper. When the track ran out silence, and tension, filled the room. Gigi was the first to speak.

"What did Kyle say when you told him you couldn't rehearse with him anymore?"

Crystal cringed at the mention of him. "Well I told him it was because of the art club obviously, so he wasn't too mad. He said he would just use free period for basketball and practice with Jaida before school," she informed her. "He also asked if we could practice during lunch, but I told him I'm busy with something _super_ important during lunch," she laughed.

"Where's the lie?" Gigi laughed back. The silence filled the room once again after the laughter died down, and Crystal saw an opportunity to ask a question that had been playing in her head for a while.

"Are you gonna ask him to winter formal?" she looked down at the piano keys nervously, not wanting to meet Gigi's piercing blue eyes.

"Huh? Why would I do that??" Gigi's forehead creased in the middle with confusion.

"Well because you like him?" Crystal brought her own confused expression up to meet Gigi's.

"God Crystal, you'd think for someone with good grades you'd be a little less smooth brained," Gigi scoffed, seriously in disbelief that Crystal _still_ hadn't caught on.

"Hey!" Crystal gave a mock offended look, nudging Gigi's shoulder with her own. "So you don't like him?" she questioned with a tone that was a little too enthusiastic. She hoped Gigi hadn't noticed it.

"No you idiot! He's uh...he's not my type..." Gigi trailed off, praying that Crystal had missed the way she had involuntarily put emphasis on "he".

"What!? How is a golf-loving, basketball playing, musical theatre _singer_ not your type!?" Crystal found Gigi's claim absolutely ridiculous. Gigi sighed in relief that Crystal truly was oblivious, but felt panic rise again at her question.

"Well uh...he's...," she tried to think of something that wouldn't cause Crystal to question her further, "his hair! His hair is dirty blonde...I'm more into brunettes!" Gigi exclaimed as she stared into the dark brown curls in front of her.

"Oh my god of _course_ you are picky like that, I shouldn't be surprised," Crystal teased, buying her partially truthful answer. "Wanna sing the song again?"

✽✽✽

"Why weren't you at lunch?" Jackie asked Crystal as she found her standing at her locker before their next class. Crystal jumped.

"Geez Jackie, you scared me! I was rehearsing for callbacks."

Jackie's brows furrowed in thought. "Really? I could've sworn I saw Kyle in lunch.."

"Right, I uh...we practice separate sometimes!" Crystal remembered Gigi's request from the day before _‘don’t tell anyone about this’,_ and chose to leave out who she was practicing with instead of Kyle. Jackie wasn’t as unobservant as Crystal though, and knew for sure that something was off, but chose not to press further right now as she had to get to class.

Jackie turned and headed towards the stairwell that led to the second floor where her math class was. As she turned the corner she was stopped by Chad bumping directly into her.

“Ah! I’m so sorry!” he spoke picking up her books, “Jackie! I was just coming to find you!” he exclaimed as he looked up and saw who he had collided with.

“Me? For what?”

“It’s about Kyle. And Crystal. We need to make sure they can’t go to the callback.” he spoke with a hard tone. “All of practice during free period today he was distracted and humming! And the championship game is the same night as callbacks.”

“Yeah, now that I think about it, the art show is the same night as callbacks too...and I _need_ her at the art show,” Jackie tried to brainstorm, but couldn’t seem to come up with anything. “So what do we do?”she finally asked.

“Umm...I think we just need to get them to hate each other or something, that way they won’t want to sing together!” Chad said the first thing that came to his head.

“Okay, sure, I hope it works,” Jackie agreed, not knowing that it would be a _lot_ easier than she anticipated to get Crystal to hate Kyle.


	9. Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chad is a liar. As is Crystal. As is Gigi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just so boring right now I’m so sorry I’m even bored writing this chapter LOL I promise it’ll get better soon this is very much filler/build up atm. Also I’m just starting college so idk how often I’ll be able to update but I’ll try my best xoxo lmk what you think in the comments and if you have any predictions!

After consulting with Jackie, Chad quickly sprung into action with his plan. He headed to his next class, which he happened to have with Kyle, and sat down next to him. When the class got quiet for a minute as the teacher wrote on the board, Chad spoke.

"Dude...you're not gonna believe what just happened to me!" he whispered, letting a stunned look spread across his face to play it up.

"Well tell me then!" Kyle was engaged immediately, exactly how Chad had hoped.

"I uh...I ran into your...your Crystal in the hallway just now." Chad stuttered over his words on purpose to make his statement more believable.

"Okay...and? What's so unbelievable about that?" Kyle asked impatiently.

"You didn't let me finish! She uh...I don't know how to tell you this man. But she was being really flirty with me," Chad lied through his teeth and Kyle's eyes blew wide.

"What!? Are you sure Chad? What did she say?" Chad tried not to let the smile that he felt creeping up spread onto his lips and searched his mind for something to say. He hadn't had time to think this far into the plan.

"She said she liked my haircut!" Kyle raised an eyebrow as if waiting for Chad to finish. Clearly this wasn't enough for him.

"And then I uh...I thanked her of course. And then she...she said that I 'look good with any haircut'. And I didn't really know what to say, but then she asked to touch it!" Chad's voice had gotten louder as he spoke and a few of their surrounding classmates "shushed" him. Kyle's look of bewilderment morphed into one of anger and his mouth opened for a second as if he wanted to say something before closing again tightly. He turned his head to face the board again and squinted his eyes.

"Are you gonna do something man? Aren't you gonna say something to her?" Chad tried to encourage his friend. Kyle stayed silent for a second, considering his options.

"I don't know what to say, but I do know that there's no way I can sing with her for the callback."

"Well that's great dude, now you don't have to miss the big game! Dicks before chicks anyways!" Chad exclaimed, being shushed by the class once again.

"Yeah, i guess. Whatever," although Chad knew he was doing the right thing, the morbid look on Kyle's face made him feel a little bit of guilt. Not enough to change his mind about the plan though.

Meanwhile, Jackie took their plan in an entirely different direction, because the more she thought about it the more she realized there was a better way. She waited for Crystal after school, like she did every day, leaning against her car so that she could drive the brunette home.

Crystal took a little longer than usual, _because she might've bumped into a certain blonde on the way out, which Jackie didn't need to know,_ but was soon walking towards the car.

"You look awfully happy, you have a good afternoon?" Jackie asked, noticing the way Crystal's face was lit up.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Crystal smiled at the pavement of the parking lot, the blush that spread on her cheeks not going unnoticed by Jackie. She just got into the drivers seat of her silver Honda, signaling for Crystal to get in the car as well, and pulled out of the spot. As soon as they were out of the parking lot and on the main road, Crystal turned on the radio and cranked the volume up. Jackie quickly turned it back down so she could speak.

"So, I know you never said yes to being in the art show, but we really need you. You're so talented Crys, please reconsider," the girl begged, glancing briefly at Crystal with exaggerated pleading eyes. As much as Crystal loved art and wanted to make her friend happy, she knew it conflicted with the callbacks, and if she didn't do the callbacks then she would have no excuse to spend every lunch period with Gigi.

"Jackie you know I can't miss the callb—"

"You don't have to! You can go to both Crys, did you even look at the times?" Jackie laughed. _Of course_ Crystal hadn't looked at the times.

"The art show starts at 6:45 and the callbacks start at 7," Jackie informed her. Crystals brows furrowed.

"How will that be enough time for me to be at both? The art show will only just be getting started!" They were now pulling onto the girl's street.

"Crystal, did you forget who the president of the art club is? Also known as the person who makes decisions such as when things start?" Jackie laughed again. "I can just change the art show to start at 6 instead!" she told her as she pulled over in front of Crystal's house. It was rather small, since this was an expensive city to live in, but Crystal found it to be homey and way better than their old house. She was snapped out of her mouth gaping when she realized Jackie had stopped the car. She gathered her things from her feet, and swung open the car door to get out, thanking Jackie.

"Oh, Crys!" Crystal turned around to look at her through the rolled down window. "You might wanna start thinking about and planning what you're gonna paint!"

✽ ✽ ✽

As soon as Gigi pulled into the driveway of her eccentric home she hopped out of the car and farted up to her room, not bothering to greet anyone on the way. After the overwhelming day she had of lying to and trying to act calm around Crystal, she needed to let out her feelings, to her diary of course. She pulled the pink journal and feathery pen out from under her mattress and began pouring her feelings into the page.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today was...exhausting to say the least. I really don’t know what to do. I thought I could make it until the end of next year without cracking my perfect exterior but...I don’t know. Crystal makes it difficult. I already tried to be a bitch to her like I do to the other girls, but how am I supposed to treat her like shit when she’s so damn nice to me??? UGH.It would be easier if she was ugly or something. At least I don’t have to worry about her figuring me out any time soon, she’s totally clueless. I’m sure anyone else would’ve caught on by now; I’ve let so many things slip out it’s basically obvious at this point. But until_ _today she was still convinced that I liked Kyle. Which I do NOT. In fact, I dislike him quite a bit. Who does he think he is kissing her and being so touchy with her like that?? It’s gross and pathetic on his part._

_Anyways, I needed to write in here because I cannot keep my feelings inside any longer, and there’s no WAY I’m telling them to anyone else. So here I am. Writing in this stupid diary that I should’ve gotten rid of years ago. I wish_ _I could just tell Crystal how I feel...but if I did then one of two things would happen:_

_1\. She would laugh in my face and tell the whole school my secret_

_2\. She would feel bad for me and let me down easy_

_Either way, I lose. And I do NOT like losing._ _You know that, diary. God I’m so tired that I’m talking to a notebook. This is a new low. I should’ve never volunteered to practice with her, what was I thinking??? It’s not like I can cancel on her now...then she’d have to practice with Kyle again. No way that’s happening. I guess I’ll just have to suck it up and keep trying to act normal. It’s not like I haven’t done that for the last 17 years, even if it is a little different now. Updates to come, diary. Oh god I’m doing it again...maybe I need to go take a nap or something._

“Gee! Come downstairs please dear; I need to show you something!” Gigi heard her mother yell from the bottom of the stairs, interrupting her writing. She put her pen in the page to mark her place and walked quickly out of her room and down the stairs, leaving her diary on the bed and her door wide open.

Hearing the ruckus of his mom shouting and the stomping down the stairs, Gavin came out of his room from across the hall to see what all the noise was about. Seeing Gigi’s bedroom door open and being the nosey twin brother that he is, he hesitantly tiptoed into her very pink room and sat down on her bed, taking notice of the sparkly book that was placed on it. Gavin knew that he shouldn’t open it, he shouldn’t even be in here, but his curiosity was stronger than his morals and he figured just a peak wouldn’t hurt anyone.

He opened the journal to where a pen was acting as a bookmark and let his eyes wander down the page, taking in the information he was reading. The farther down he read the more confused he got, before he came across some very telling words and a lightbulb went off in his head. His eyes widened as he realized that he wasn’t the only _gay_ person in the family. “ _Guess it really is genetic_ ,” he thought before closing the diary and putting it back in the spot he found and returning to his room swiftly, head full of ideas of what to do with this new information.


End file.
